


The Terrorizing and Inevitable Downfall of Azumane Asahi

by squidmemesinc



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-07
Updated: 2014-11-07
Packaged: 2018-02-24 11:05:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,975
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2579288
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/squidmemesinc/pseuds/squidmemesinc
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Asahi isn't the type who knows how to deal with someone having a crush on him. Even less so when the person who has the crush is male, taller than him, and also two years his junior.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Terrorizing and Inevitable Downfall of Azumane Asahi

**Author's Note:**

> This started on Twitter with DaysToDawn talking about rarepairs. Now look where we are.  
> (This is one of the only two Asahi/Tsukishima fics on this entire website. I feel special!)

_Wednesday_

The first incident, if it had happened to anyone other than Asahi, would have been harmless. They would have brushed it off as something a little weird, but nothing more than that. A slip of character, which everyone had. That’s it.

He happened to be looking at Tsukishima just by chance, his eyes drifting over him only because he was the next one in line to hit a spike. It was meant to be just a passing glance, if you could say it was meant to be anything other than just natural movement—the way you look at people, but don’t actually _look_ at them.

But something about Tsukishima’s expression made his gaze linger. Perhaps it was just that he looked exceptionally focused, which was a weird thing for Tsukishima to look. So Asahi looked longer.

Tsukishima had been looking back, though, and that was the problem. The whole exchange only lasted maybe five seconds, and at the end of the fourth, Tsukishima winked at him.

And then he ran forward to hit a killer spike. The ball slammed into the ground with a near-deafening _smack!_ that echoed throughout the gymnasium. Tsukishima turned around to face Asahi, and though his mouth remained in its usual flat line, Asahi felt like he was being smiled at.

His ears went red and he ducked out of line to get some water.

_Thursday_

At particularly inconvenient times, Asahi would remember being winked at by his teammate. During class, when he was called on to answer a question, he suddenly stammered. Meeting Sugawara and Daichi for lunch, he was reminded of another member of the volleyball team and his heart thrummed a little faster, and his expression made Suga ask if everything was okay. In the bathroom, when he was washing his hands, he accidentally squirted water up into his face.

He felt himself wondering if he had gotten worked up for nothing. Could it be normal to wink at your teammates? As a sort of congratulatory measure? He couldn’t remember Tanaka or Nishinoya ever doing it. Maybe they couldn’t wink.

There were other potential alternatives as well. Maybe he had something in his eye. Maybe it was just a twitch. Maybe Asahi had imagined it altogether. He found himself wishing he could replay the moment to scrutinize it and extract its meaning.

If it had meant…that….

He could see the appeal of the other third years, if Tsukishima even was…

Sugawara was immeasurably kind, which maybe Tsukishima wished he could be. Daichi was a very skilled volleyball player, especially defensively, and Tsukishima could certainly admire that.

But then again, Asahi was also both very kind and very good at volleyball. Not that he would think that so readily about himself, but it had been said by others on prior occasions.

Somehow, Asahi felt this revelation had dug him into a slight hole.

 

_Friday_

Tsukishima gave no hint of remembering the wink for all of practice, leaving Asahi to further question its existence.

However, watching Tsukishima for signs indicating he remembered the wink meant Asahi was watching Tsukishima. He noticed, several times, Tsukishima was watching him back.

But how much of that could have been because he could tell Asahi was watching him? If he looked at Tsukishima, Tsukishima no doubt was wondering why he was being looked at, and looked back, which just made Asahi look more, which made Tsukishima look more, which

“Oi, Asahi, don’t space out!”

“Y-Yes, Coach!” Earning him a half-second glance from Tsukishima. He looked away.

Practice finished without further incident. Asahi forced himself to pull himself together and stop obsessing over something that probably hadn’t even actually happened.

Coach Ukai promised them all to meat buns, though, and he wasn’t about to skip out on that. Daichi and Suga passed, saying they needed to study, but everyone else wasn’t about to pass up free food.

As they were leaving the changing rooms, Asahi meant to walk with Tanaka and Nishinoya, but he felt a hand on his shoulder. He nearly jumped out of his skin when he saw who it was.

“Walk with me, ace,” Tsukishima said.

“O-Okay.”

Yamaguchi was, for perhaps the first time Asahi could remember, not next to Tsukishima. He was up in the front of the pack talking to the other first years, who apparently didn’t harbor as much dislike for him as they did for Tsukishima.

His absence made Asahi nervous.

Tsukishima’s opening line to him didn’t make him any less nervous. “That was a pretty poor performance today.”

“W-What do you mean?”

“Yours! Your serves were messy, but not as messy as your receives. And your spikes seemed much less powerful. Really, that’s no way for an ace to behave.”

Asahi knew he hadn’t been quite in top form today, since he had been distracted. “S-Sorry.”

“Jeez, stop stuttering. It’s so unsightly.”

Asahi swallowed and forced himself to steady his voice. “Okay.”

There was a lull in the conversation, if it could be called that with Asahi’s minor role. He dared to sneak a sideways glance at Tsukishima. Tsukishima was sidelong back at him. “You sure are looking at me a lot today. Is there something you want to confess to me, Asahi-san?”

“Not at all!” Asahi said, maybe a little too loudly, perhaps thinking it made him sound more confident or more believable. He was almost certain now that the wink had been a momentary hallucination. Maybe he had gotten hit in the head with a volleyball and he just didn’t remember it. Maybe he had suffered a memory lapse, too.

Tsukishima lowered his voice a bit. “I kind of got the impression that you might have a little gay crush on me. How embarrassing that would be! For you, I mean.”

“I don’t know how you got that impression. If I was looking at you more, it was just a coincidence.”

“Hmm. You’re looking a little pale, too. Maybe volleyball is getting to be too much for an old man like you. Sugawara-san and Daichi-san already had to retire early, it seems. Maybe you should have done the same? Either way, isn’t it a little lame to be the only third year hanging out with a bunch of first and second years?”

“We’re all on the same volleyball team!” Asahi yelped, feeling indignant, but also a little hurt and more than a little unsteady. Asahi wished he were more like Hinata and Kageyama, who seemed more able to shake off Tsukishima’s comments. He was two years their senior, but still more fragile. It was pretty shameful, though that hadn’t been exactly what he had pointed out.

Tsukishima made a little ‘hm’ noise and went quiet for another minute. This time, Asahi was pretty sure he was being watched, but he didn’t look. He was feeling a bit sullen. Maybe more than a bit.

His teammate finally sighed next to him. “Apparently this isn’t working,” he muttered, and Asahi was unsure if he was meant to hear. “How long have you been growing out your hair?”

Asahi was thrown off by this sudden change in mood. “Uh, about a year.”

“Most guys can’t pull off that style, but on you it looks good.”

What…? He had gone from being insulted to being complimented. What had Tsukishima been trying to do that hadn’t been working?

“Thank you,” he said, the blood that had drained from his face now coming slowly back, a little in excess.

Tsukishima smiles at him, and Asahi is floor. It’s definitely the first time he’s seen that, or any other real expression of emotion on Tsukishima’s face. He’s got a nice smile.

 

_Monday_

Things escalate.

Rather quickly, too.

They’re having a scrimmage, five on five, even though that’s not standard. It’s Kageyama, Hinata, Tanaka, Daichi, and Ennoshita against Asahi, Tsukishima, Sugawara, Nishinoya, and Yamaguchi.

Tanaka just served, and Nishinoya receives, sending it perfectly over to Sugawara.

“Suga!” Asahi calls, jumping.

He hits a perfect spike right through Hinata’s and Kageyama’s hands.

“Damn!” Hinata complains, looking, displeased, at his own offending appendage.

And then—

“Nice one, ace!” Tsukishima says. And he smacks him on the ass.

Asahi goes rigid. Most of the team is staring either at him or at Tsukishima. He reacted as they would expect, most likely, but for him it was…kind of out of character.

“What, can’t a guy compliment his teammate every once in a while?” Tsukishima counters, icy as ever. As if he hadn’t just done something completely strange.

Hinata gets up on his toes to whisper into Kageyama’s ear something that everyone hears: “I think Tsukishima’s losin’ it.”

 

_Tuesday_

No practice today.

But, he gets a text from Tsukishima.

**_Tsukishima:_ ** _I think i accidentally dropped something in your bag when we were changing. Would you meet me at the club room during lunch? I dont want to just rifle through your things_

He agrees, even though the pretense is suspicious.

Tsukishima is already waiting outside the club room when he gets there. He doesn’t have a key, being a first year, so he waits for Asahi to open the door for him. They go in and Asahi pulls out his bag.

“What am I looking for?” he asks.

“My iPod. It’s green.”

Asahi searches through his bag, not coming up with anything iPod-shaped.

“Check in your shoes, maybe? I’d be so upset if it was lost. The walk home yesterday was awful.” Somehow, he doesn’t sound too upset.

Asahi reaches into his shoes, and there it is, wedged deep into the toe. He’s even more suspicious than before. “Here it is. I’m glad we found it,” he says, handing it to the other boy.

“Thanks! You’re a life-saver.” He smiles again.

Asahi stands up, thinking hard. Those extra four centimeters Tsukishima has on him seem bigger to him. He feels small.

“Something wrong?” His eyes are narrow, and the smile is still on his face, dangerous. Asahi’s not sure what exactly he’s trying to convey, but he feels threatened.

“U-Um. You’ve been—acting strangely.” He can’t believe he actually said it.

“Oh? So you have noticed. I was beginning to think you were oblivious.”

“D-D-Did you, perhaps, hide your iPod in my bag?”

He raises his hands in surrender. “Caught me.” That deviant smile is still on his face.

“I’d k-kind of like to know what’s going on.” Although, he has a suspicion.

Tsukishima hums in thought. “Alright. Asahi-san, go out with me.”

Oh.

Yep.

Not even ‘will you?’ though.

Asahi is bright red. Even though he knew, he stammers. “Wh-W-W-Wha—”

“It sounds like you’re mis-pronouncing ‘yes.’ Try it like this: ‘Yeeess.’” He enunciates slowly.

“No!”

“Why not?”

“B-Because!”

“Because you’re not gay?”

If possible, Asahi is even redder. “N-N-No…”

“Then why not?”

“B-Because we’re on the same team! It would be inappropriate!”

The threatening smile is gone now, but somehow Tsukishima doesn’t look any less conniving. “Then let’s be friends. I’ll buy you dinner. Friday night.”

“That sounds just like a date!” Asahi protests, exasperated.

“Fine, I’ll let you pay for yours.”

“Don’t say ‘let’! That’s a normal thing for friends to do!”

“So it’s a yes then? To being friends?” He extends his hand.

Asahi feels like the way he answers this will get him in trouble regardless of what he says. But the way it’s phrased, he can’t exactly turn down a simple offer of friendship. Asahi takes the hand in front of him in his own. “O-Okay.”

Tsukishima doesn’t let go immediately. Instead, he pushes his fingers between Asahi’s. Asahi is about ready to burst into flames. “Just so you know, I’m going to make you change your mind.”

If that doesn’t sound like a threat, Asahi doesn’t know what does.

All he can think is that his weakness for blondes might end up becoming a problem for him, come Friday.

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> By the way, Tsukishima was definitely negging him.  
> I hate negging but the idea of Tsukki doing it to someone to get their attention is hilarious to me. He's such an ass.


End file.
